de Monfort University Research (DMU)

Thanks to the support of an HEIF Grant, I have been conducting some research at DMU around The Story of Objects. The grant was secured by Reader Annie Cattrell on behalf of FARG (Fine Art Research Group) and set out to engage in strategic networking activities involving De Montfort University.

Two Story of Objects encounter sessions were hosted at the University for groups of trans-faculty academics from Design & Crafts; Education; Impact Office; Fine Art; Film & Material Culture; an artist specialising in Health & Wellbeing; Director of CELL discourse analysis; TATE Gallery Public Engagement team & a Contemporary Archaeologist from MOLA.

With reference to Ossian Ward’s “Ways of Looking: How to Experience Contemporary Art”, we considered to what level the conversations initiated by discussing personal objects might help people to improve how they articulate art and other objects. Testing this in an academic institution gave the process a somewhat different feel to previous sessions held in informal settings. This was an important learning process when looking at how encounters, such as these, can inform the way we talk about art, and how the context and setting impacts on that experience.